Best Surf School Booking Software in 2026: 9 Options Compared
For most surf schools the right pick depends on how much of your day is lessons and how much is board rentals, and where your customers book. EquipDash fits schools that run lessons and board and wetsuit rentals from one quiver ($29/mo, with waivers from $69/mo, 21-day free trial). WaveRez suits US schools that want boards and wetsuits added to the lesson booking with no monthly fee, Viking Bookings suits surf and kite schools in Europe paying in euros, and FareHarbor suits schools in tourist towns that sell through travel sites.
This guide compares nine options on what a surf school deals with every day: group and private lessons with a safe number of students per instructor, board and wetsuit sizes, kids whose parents need to sign, rentals going out from the same rack the lessons use, and a forecast that goes flat or blows out. Every price and fee below comes from the vendor's own site, checked in November 2026. We make EquipDash, so our entry sticks to the same facts as everyone else's, including where it falls short. Starting a school? See how to run a surf school.
Surf school software compared
| Software | Starting price | Booking fee | Free trial | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EquipDash | $29/mo, or $23/mo billed yearly; waivers from $69/mo | 1-2% on direct online bookings, can be passed to the customer | 21 days, no card | Lessons and board rentals from one quiver |
| Viking Bookings | No monthly fee, €380 setup (EUR) | 3% of revenue through Viking, or 2.25% on the annual plan | Demo only | Surf and kite schools in Europe selling lesson packages |
| WaveRez | No monthly fee, setup from $300 | 6% per online booking, usually passed to the customer | Not stated | US schools adding board and wetsuit rentals to lessons |
| YoPlanning | Free, or €19/mo (EUR) | 5% on the free plan, 2.5% on paid plans | 14 days, no card | Schools in Europe grouping lessons by level |
| TicketingHub | No monthly fee | 3% per booking, you choose who pays | None, demo instead | Lesson-led schools that want no fixed cost |
| FareHarbor | No monthly fee | Paid by the guest; rate not published | Not stated | Schools in tourist towns selling through travel sites |
| Checkfront | $99/mo | 3% on online bookings, absorb or pass on | Not stated | Fixed lesson times plus hourly board hire |
| Rezdy | $49/mo (currency not named) | 3% online, plus $1 per offline booking | 21 days, no card | Schools selling through agents and travel sites |
| Booqable | 29/mo billed yearly, 35/mo monthly (no currency shown) | No commission | 14 days, no card | Board and wetsuit rental shops without lessons |
Card processing fees are extra on every option. Three names that come up were left out: BukyApp lists no prices on its site and offers a demo only, Anolla publishes a free base plan but no rates for its paid features and its software page doesn't mention surfing, and Peek Pro's pricing page didn't load when we checked and its pricing is quote-based.
What surf school software has to handle
A surf school's Saturday fills up fast. The 9am beginner group has ten people booked, and at six students per instructor that needs two instructors on the sand. Among the ten are a mom and her 12-year-old, and the mom wants a soft-top in the whitewater for her 7-year-old too. Two walk-ups want 8-foot soft-tops and an M wetsuit for two hours at 10, from the same rack the lesson uses. Then the forecast for Sunday drops under two feet, and fourteen people need a new time before they drive to the coast.
These are the checks that matter most:
- Student-to-instructor ratios. A group lesson should stop selling once it's full for the instructors you've rostered, so nobody squeezes in an eleventh beginner.
- Board and wetsuit sizes on the booking. Each surfer's wetsuit size, and ideally swim ability, should come in when they book, so you're not sizing a group on the beach.
- Waivers for minors. A parent signs for each child before the lesson, and you can see who hasn't signed.
- Swell and wind reschedules. When the forecast goes flat or blows out, every booked surfer should get a new time or a refund within your policy without phoning you.
- Lessons and rentals from one rack. A soft-top on the 9am lesson can't also be rented at 9.
- Packages and camps. Five-lesson packs and week-long camps that hold a spot and fill day by day.
The 9 options, one by one
1. EquipDash
Best for: surf schools and board rental shops that run lessons and board and wetsuit rentals from the same quiver, at one beach or several.
Price: $29/mo on Starter, or $23/mo billed yearly. A booking fee of 2% on Starter, 1.5% on Growth, and 1% on Pro applies to direct online bookings only, and you can pass it on to customers at checkout. 21-day free trial, no card. See pricing.
What it does for a surf school: group, private, family and corporate lessons sit on one booking page with board and wetsuit rentals, showing live spots left. Each surfer's wetsuit size and swim ability come in with the booking, a parent signs the waiver for kids, and the deposit is held at checkout. You set a student-to-instructor ratio and the lesson stops selling past the instructors you've rostered, and instructors teaching without a current card get flagged. Lesson slots can follow the tide. You set your own line for swell and wind, and when the forecast crosses it the dashboard names the lessons it hits; you move the whole lesson at once, everyone gets the new time and the reason, and deposit holds roll forward. Boards are matched to each surfer by length, volume and skill, and a board that comes back with a ding goes to the workshop and off the booking page until it's fixed.
Watch out for: EquipDash is newer than most names on this list, so there are fewer independent reviews to read. Waivers, staff management and Dash AI start on the Growth plan at $69/mo, or $55/mo billed yearly, so a surf school that needs online waivers should price Growth. More on the surf school software page.
2. Viking Bookings
Best for: surf, kite and wing schools in Europe that sell lesson packages and camps.
Price: in euros. Every plan has a one-time €380 setup fee. The Flexible plan charges 3% of revenue recorded through Viking, billed monthly afterwards with no annual commitment. The Annual plan charges 2.25% of estimated annual revenue, paid upfront, and the Fixed plan is €4,900 per location per year with no commission. Payment processing is separate. A free demo is offered; no free trial is listed.
What it does for a surf school: single lessons, lesson packages and camps sold online, packages scheduled later, instructors planned around availability and capacity, each student's level and progress kept visible, waivers and rescheduling in the student's own account, and planning around tides.
Watch out for: pricing is in euros, and its surf page doesn't describe board and wetsuit inventory or a point of sale.
3. WaveRez
Best for: US surf schools that want board and wetsuit rentals added to the lesson booking.
Price: no monthly fee. Setup starts at $300 and includes the software license, training and support. WaveRez charges 6% per online booking, usually passed on to the customer, or you can absorb it. Phone, walk-up and affiliate bookings are custom priced.
What it does for a surf school: beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons each with their own price, length and instructor requirements, private and group lessons, multi-day camps, student-to-instructor ratios, surfboard and wetsuit rentals added during the lesson booking, multi-lesson packages, and digital waivers.
Watch out for: its surf page covers weather only as broadcast messages about delays and cancellations, and there's no free trial listed.
4. YoPlanning
Best for: surf schools in Europe that group lessons by level and take payment on the beach.
Price: in euros. The Discovery plan is free with a 5% booking fee. Paid plans are Solo at €19/mo, Micro at €39/mo and Company at €59/mo, each with a 2.5% booking fee. 14-day free trial, no card.
What it does for a surf school: lessons, courses and board hire sold online, one session per level group with its own capacity and assigned instructors, rentals added to the lesson or sold alone with stock that updates itself, sessions shifted on the planner when the swell moves, week-long courses as one product, and payment taken on the beach from the mobile app.
Watch out for: the dollar prices on its pricing page don't match each other, so confirm the price in your currency, and its surf page doesn't mention waivers.
5. TicketingHub
Best for: lesson-led schools that want no monthly bill.
Price: no monthly fee, no setup fee and no contract. TicketingHub charges 3% of each successful booking across online, in-person card and travel-site sales, and you choose whether the guest or you pays it. Cash sales are free. There's no trial since there's nothing to pay upfront; a demo is offered.
What it does for a surf school: guests pick a lesson, reserve a session and pay on your website, each instructor can have their own account, and guests can make changes within the options and deadlines you set.
Watch out for: digital waivers run through a separate Smartwaiver subscription, and its own surf page says lesson checkout doesn't cover full rental management and that board sizes, wetsuit quantities and instructor allocation need testing.
6. FareHarbor
Best for: surf schools in tourist towns that sell a lot through travel sites.
Price: no monthly software fees and no setup fees. A small fee on confirmed bookings is added at checkout so guests cover it; the rate isn't published.
What it does for a surf school: FareHarbor names surf schools and board rentals among its customers, with digital waivers signed before guests arrive, weather holds, travel-site and affiliate connections, and a point of sale.
Watch out for: without a published fee rate, it's hard to compare costs before a sales call, and its pages don't describe instructor ratios or board sizes.
7. Checkfront
Best for: schools running lessons at fixed times alongside hourly board hire.
Price: one plan at $99/mo plus a 3% fee on online bookings, which you can absorb or pass on to guests. Offline bookings carry no fee, and built-in waivers carry no extra fee.
What it does for a surf school: fixed timeslots for lessons and pick-your-start hourly hire for boards, a buffer between rentals for rinsing gear, a different waiver for each product, minimum and maximum group sizes, and closures that block a product when you call off conditions so guests can be rebooked or canceled.
Watch out for: its pages describe these features for kayaks and paddleboards and don't mention surfing, so test lessons with instructor ratios in a trial.
8. Rezdy
Best for: surf schools that sell through agents, resellers and travel sites.
Price: Foundation is $49/mo, Accelerate $99/mo and Expansion $249/mo, each with a 3% online booking fee you can absorb or pass on, plus $1, $0.85 or $0.70 per offline or agent booking. The page doesn't name a currency and notes prices exclude GST in Australia. 21-day free trial, no card.
What it does for a surf school: a guest manifest, resource management for staff and equipment, unlimited travel-site, agent and reseller connections on every plan, and digital waivers sent after booking, with the manifest showing who has signed. Surf schools in Australia and New Zealand run their booking pages on it.
Watch out for: its pricing page doesn't list waivers on any plan, and it has no surf school page describing ratios or board and wetsuit rentals.
9. Booqable
Best for: board and wetsuit rental shops that don't teach lessons.
Price: the Start plan is 29/mo billed yearly or 35/mo billed monthly, with no currency shown on the page and no commission on bookings. 14-day free trial, no card.
What it does for a surf school: surfboards with wetsuits as accessories, each item tracked as its own unit, security deposits as a fixed amount or a percentage, digital agreements signed before or at pickup, and Tap to Pay at the beach.
Watch out for: it doesn't mention lessons or instructors, e-signatures start on the Grow plan, and the mobile point of sale costs extra per user each month.
What it costs at your volume
Here's what the published fees add up to in the first year for a school taking $60,000 a year in online bookings, about 1,000 bookings at $60 each, assuming the school absorbs every booking fee and all bookings are online. Card processing is extra.
| Software | Subscription and setup | Booking fees | First-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booqable (Start) | 348-420 (no currency shown) | None | 348-420 |
| EquipDash (Starter) | $276-$348 | $1,200 (2%) | $1,476-$1,548 |
| EquipDash (Growth, with waivers) | $660-$828 | $900 (1.5%) | $1,560-$1,728 |
| TicketingHub | None | $1,800 (3%) | $1,800 |
| Rezdy (Foundation) | $588 | $1,800 (3%) | $2,388 |
| Checkfront | $1,188 | $1,800 (3%) | $2,988 |
| WaveRez | $300 setup | $3,600 (6%) | $3,900 |
If you pass the booking fee on to customers, EquipDash, TicketingHub, Rezdy, Checkfront and WaveRez come down to the subscription and setup alone. Booqable's figure covers rentals only, since it has no lesson features. Viking Bookings and YoPlanning are priced in euros, and FareHarbor doesn't publish its rate, so they aren't in the table.
How to choose
- You teach lessons and rent boards and wetsuits from the same rack: EquipDash, or WaveRez if your customers will carry a 6% fee.
- You're in Europe and sell lesson packages and camps: Viking Bookings or YoPlanning, both priced in euros.
- You want no fixed monthly cost: TicketingHub at 3%, or FareHarbor if guests should pay the fee.
- Most of your lessons sell through travel sites and agents: FareHarbor or Rezdy.
- You only rent boards and wetsuits: Booqable.
Whichever you shortlist, run a real Saturday in the trial: a 9am group of ten beginners at six per instructor, a parent signing for a 12-year-old, two soft-tops and an M wetsuit going out at 10, and a Sunday forecast under two feet. If the software caps the lesson, collects the waivers, keeps the rented boards off the lesson, and moves Sunday without a phone call, it'll handle your summer. For setting your prices, see surf lesson pricing, and for flat and blown-out days, surf weather and conditions policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best booking software for a surf school?
It depends on your mix of lessons and rentals. For a school running lessons and board and wetsuit rentals from one quiver, EquipDash starts at $29/mo with a 21-day free trial. WaveRez has no monthly fee but charges 6% per online booking, Viking Bookings suits schools in Europe paying in euros, and Booqable suits rental-only shops.
How much does surf school software cost?
Published prices run from no monthly fee (Viking Bookings, WaveRez, TicketingHub and FareHarbor, with per-booking fees instead) to $29-$99 a month (EquipDash, Rezdy, Checkfront). Booking fees range from none (Booqable) to 6% (WaveRez), and card processing is extra.
Can surf school software enforce student-to-instructor ratios?
Some can. EquipDash stops selling a lesson once it's full for the instructors you've rostered, WaveRez says it enforces student-to-instructor ratios, and YoPlanning gives each level group its own capacity and assigned instructors. TicketingHub's own surf page says participant capacity is different from instructor allocation, so test it.
Can surf school software reschedule lessons when the surf is flat or blown out?
Some can help. EquipDash warns you when the forecast crosses your own swell and wind line and moves the whole lesson at once, Checkfront can close a product and rebook guests, and FareHarbor has weather holds. TicketingHub lets guests make changes within your deadlines, and its own surf page notes that the software doesn't assess sea conditions, so you still need your own policy.
Can parents sign surf waivers for their kids online?
EquipDash's surf page says a parent signs the waiver for kids at checkout. TicketingHub uses a separate Smartwaiver integration and says to confirm guardian signing. Most other options list digital waivers without describing minors, so test a family booking in the trial.
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